Rep. Murt doesn't need this for publicity

Rep. Murt doesn't need to worry about votes because the 152nd District has voted Republican in every single election it has ever held.

Hearings on reforming PA's child labor laws will be held Sept 23 in Harrisburg:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/08/gosselin_kids_new_hearing_set.html

At the urging of a reader, it's time to address the illogical and really, laughable accusation that Rep. Thomas Murt, who is pushing for more restrictive child labor laws in PA after what has happened to the Gosselin kids, is just doing this for votes, for publicity, and for the upcoming election in November.

A few points to consider:

1. Murt is a state representative up for election every two years. Because these terms are so short, most people in his shoes campaign constantly. So whether he pushed for this legislation now, six months from now, twelve months from now, or two years from now, you could always accuse anyone who is a representative of just campaigning for votes at any time throughout their term. When you are never not campaigning, than you can never do a thing without being accused of trying to get votes. If his term was six years or even four years, this might be a point worth discussing.

2. Contrary to what Kate apologists want you to think, Rep. Murt, a Republican, doesn't need votes. You've heard of red and blue states in national elections. Everyone expects that New York will always vote Democrat and Oklahoma will always vote Republican. But a swing state is a state that is "up for grabs," it could vote either Republican or Democrat. The same concept applies to Pennsylvania's districts. Rep. Murt represents the 152nd District. This District is not a "swing" District by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, a quick glance at the historical data shows that the 152nd has voted Republican in every single election it has ever held for that seat. The first election for this seat was in 1969 (prior to that it was an appointed position). After that, the seat was held by a variety of Republicans, including the present representative, Murt. There have been more than thirty-five elections since 1969 for this seat. The Republican won. Every single time.

3. Let's take a look at Rep. Murt's last election for this seat in 2007. He won by a landslide 60% of the votes. While 60% may mean you fail the test in grade school, in the political world that number is overwhelming. Presidential elections lately are usually won by narrow margins. Many elections are like this. So just to give you an idea of how significant that percentage is, the last time a president won with more than 60% of the votes was Richard Nixon's overwhelming landslide re-election in 1969 where he got 60.7% of the votes, more than three decades before the Gosselin kids were even born. Many elections since then with lesser numbers have also been called landslides. Tom's last election was of course a landslide and will likely be another landslide this year, too, so he has nothing to worry about.

4. Is there some remarkable candidate up for the seat that could change four decades of consistency for this District? Not really. Rep. Murt's opposition this year is no opposition at all. Bob McGucklin is running as the Democrat for Murt's seat. McGucklin is only 32 years old (although he looks about 22) with a new wife and baby. He is a new lawyer, and has no political experience. He has spent his entire career working for a law firm. He and Rep. Murt are both Penn Staters and are both Catholics, so he's not going to get the Penn State vote or the Catholic vote over Murt. Best wishes to Bob, this will be a good way to get his feet wet and to practice for future campaigns, but he has no chance against Murt this year Gosselins or not.

There's no way of really knowing what Murt is really thinking. But before dismissing him as yet another politician out to get votes, it's important to take a look at the history of his District and to understand that Rep. Murt could sit around all day spinning plates above his head, and he would probably win his seat every single election as long as the man remains a Republican. If Rep. Murt is just doing this for votes, hopefully someone has tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him that he doesn't need votes. Unless he's planning to join Obama's party any time soon.

One final note. Politicos like Rep. Murt are the envy of most politicians. He can champion whatever causes he is most passionate about without worrying about votes. One of the biggest complaints of our political system is that politicians only jump when there are votes in front of them. Since Murt is one of the minority in a position where votes don't matter that much, he can pursue whatever direction he wants. For whatever reason, improving child labor laws in his state is one of his passions. We hope something better comes out of this for these kids and for any kids involved in future productions in PA.